Monday, November 18, 2013

In my tenth Sailor Moon Vlog, I try this out in front of green screen
(and sort of failed with the effect...). I talk about how I feel that
this is the best episode, yet I'm not exactly making a good case for it.

Soundtrack and Sound Effects From:
Higurashi: When They Cry Soundtrack
Supernatural
freesound.org
Various YouTube Sources (If you would like credit, please contact with proof of the original source for confirmation)

Oh boy! It's here! Dick Figures The Movie. I've been waiting for this flick ever since Ed and Zack (The Creators of Dick Figures) announced way back in early 2011. It got funded on Kickstarter, quickly amassing $311,000 becoming the most funded Animation project on the site at the time and you can see why this happened, Dick Figures is HUGELY popular online. Being one of the main three shows Mondo Media is known for the others being Happy Tree Friends, and the discontinued Gundarr, and raking in millions of views in each episode of the show.

Now the story of Dick Figures is... definitely the weakest aspect of the movie because when broken down it's the most basic, generic road trip quest movie which leaves very few surprises but maybe our two heroes can fix that. Red and Blue, voiced by Ed Skudder and Zack Keller, are chilling in their apartment when Blue lies to Pink, played by Shea Logsden, and promises to get her the best birthday present ever. The duo then go to their almost offensive but hilarious Asian raccoon friend Raccoon and he gives them a Map that will lead them to the three fragments of the Great Sword of Destiny and if they collect the sword then Raccoon will give Blue the perfect gift for Pink. But it ain't gonna be no skip through tulips as after they acquire the first peace of the sword they revive the ancient evil samurai Lord Takagami and his ancient demon ninja army. Now racing to collect the sword Red and Blue must find all the pieces to save the world but will all this be too much for their friendship to handle?

Dick Figures at its core is about two jerks or dicks as the title of the series labels them. Obviously, right? With Red as that asshat fratboy who loves sex, guns, explosions and just being an ass for just the shits and giggles and Blue on the other hand being the nerdy, uptight stick in the mud who jus oozes his lack of confidence and readily resorts to lies and taunts to seem like the better man. When you throw these two personalties into these insane situations you just get comedy gold, with Red seizing every moment in the show to its fullest and Blue just trying to live normally but failing completely. I was really blown away by how well this comedic style was transferred to the film and with an actual layer of emotion surrounding these two's friendship.

In the series, sometimes the question crossed my mind of why the hell these two were friends with each other when clearly they clearly despise each other's basic personalties, spending half of their time arguing with one another, and the other half of the time having adventures that end with Blue terribly injured and Red being awesome? The answer? Common interests. No seriously, if you look at the show you will notice that these guys may have different personalities but they do have common interests that brings them together, mainly video games and violence. And this movie cranks this theme of friendship through common interest to 11. Through this adventure of violence, death and badassery even as they squabble during each encounter they begin to show signs of worry for each other, but mostly Blue at first to help setup the final dramatic choice for Red. These scenes help string together this films themes of friendship very well and this strong theming really helped support the weak ass story.

I don't like calling an artist's work this because it sounds very pompous and kind of a "Duh obviously" sort of thing but Dick Figures The Movie's story felt like just a series of set pieces which were only there to show off the animation. Kickass animation though it is, there is very little connection between each destination thanks to the use of action piece segways or the ever popular Indiana Jones Map segway. This is kind of the same way I feel when I play the Uncharted games, there are awesome set pieces like the entire sinking ship level but it adds nothing to anything and could have easily been just not there. I don't think I can go as far and say the same here, all the scenes have purpose to build either character or story I would just like that character and Story purpose to take the front seat sometimes and not always be throw aside to see the pretty animation.

Now that I'm on a roll with animation, 6 Point Harness's team did an excellent job with this movie for a third of a million budget. Making Dick Figures actually look cinematic with a lot more detailing done in the backgrounds making every setting look alive and distinct, and the most smooth action animation Dick Figures has ever done. These animators truly put there all into this and it truly shows and making a Stick Figure movie look this good takes some serious talent. I can't wait to see what 6 Point has next on their agenda for future projects but for now let's stick to Dick Figures.

I guess the last point I should focus on is the question, can non-fans enjoy this movie, or is this made just for the fans in mind? I'm kind of on the fence about it. On the one hand it is a well put together film with strong enough theming and animation to hold up an overall generic storyline but on the hand it's Dick Figures humour. This is definitely a series made for the internet crowd with the college student demographic in mind. This really isn't something that i could see pulling in a general public sort of crowd. But for anyone on the internet I say give it a watch. If you're into watching a fun little movie and don't care if the stories not all that great then go ahead and give it a watch. For anyone who hasn't seen dick figure or isn't internet savvy I would say give an episode of the show a try, if it ain't your thing the movie won't win yah over. But if it is, then you'll have one hell of a ride watching this.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

FINALLY back to writing reviews. Moving back and forth with the stresses of finding work leaving other work and just the storm of stress that comes from that left me drained creatively for a while. There have been so many great/complete and utter garbage shows and movies I would have loved to spotlight on here but sadly I haven't felt that drive to write them until now. Possibly in the next couple of weeks I'll go back and just rewatch them so that I can do spotlights of them but until then let's talk Uncle Grandpa.

Now Uncle Grandpa was introduced to me by my boss/pal over at Bubble Blabber John Blabber who wanted me to do a review on the game based on the cooky show simply titled Belly Bag Bonanza. To just give my two word review of that game, it sucked, but if you want a more in depth review just go to the review HERE. But while avoiding spoilers from my review of the game I'll describe my process while discovering the actual show Uncle Grandpa. Now I had just played the game for about about 1 hour, jumping on and off to, collect proper screen caps and footage for the review and a future video series I'm working on (TO BE TALKED ABOUT MORE SOON) and then I had finally decided to watch the show. You see I was experimenting with this game seeing if the game itself would entice me enough to be interested in watching the show. By my two word review you can tell the game failed royally so now I was just watching the show to get context for the crap I just played.

So I went to Youtube and put on the first episode, sitting in my computer chair pissed off and with a throbbing headache thanks to the game. Obviously not the best mood to be in to give a fair assessment of the show and even before this I was not having the greatest morning so I was just boiling with frustration and I was really just waiting for the show to tip me over the edge. And as the pilot episode started it was really heading towards that as it started with Uncle Grandpa. Now the best way to describe the voice and mannerisms of Uncle Grandpa in the first 2 minutes of the show would be to compare it to the most abusively stupid moments of Patrick the Star from Spongebob and right there that was Uncle Grandpa. Even with the wonderful addition of fart jokes. I was just about ready to pack it once the overly obese pimple faced mother came in and explained the premise of Uncle Grandpa that he is everybody's (and I mean EVERYBODY'S) Uncle and Grandpa but then this joke happened and this was part of the punchline.

You need the context of the show to really get a laugh out of it but I was laughing my ass off after that and from then on watching both episodes I had a huge smile plastered on my face. The creator Peter Browngardt definitely knew what he was doing when creating this pilot episode. It's really easy to see the stigma that hovers over cartoons. The stigma being that all cartoons nowadays are just overly PC and safe sludge, shovelled out to please the lowest common denominator and nothing else. Obviously that's not the case with examples like Gravity Falls, The Last Airbender and even Fish Hooks showing some true quality story, characters and animation but still the stigma still lingers.

Uncle Grandpa takes that expectation from that sigma and flips it completely on it's head as it goes completely insane and Uncle Grandpa becomes not just another Patrick Star. A character so stupid it's abusive to even the viewers' intelligence but a character who purposely poses as an imbecile to my surprise solve the problem in an outrageous but surprisingly intelligent way. The formula of the series seems to be that Uncle Grandpa drops into the life of an angry kid and through his wackiness the day is saved and the kid becomes happy. If this were a Patrick Star character you can bet that everything that happens would feel like a complete accident but with Uncle Grandpa there is this air of intelligence and planning in Uncle Grandpa's actions. It's hard to explain but just imagine Mary Poppins if she were a mentally challenged old man with a realistic tiger who flies by farting rainbows and that is Uncle Grandpa.

Now there are two other major strengths of the show that will probably make this show a classic once the full series comes out in September on Cartoon Network. The first being it's lightning quick pacing with jokes. Peter Browngardt is definitely no stranger to the surreal as he's written on shows like Regular Show, Chowder, Adventure Time, And The Marvellous Misadventures of Flapjack and Uncle Grandpa's tone feels like a combination of all these shows. The show is completely insane because of this, with mutants coming from a toilet and glasses turning dads into lizard men but because the pacing of these simply outrageously stupid events is so fast your brain doesn't have time to process the complete stupidity of it all. However with that said there is definitely a formula but like Phineas and Ferb even though its got a set in stone formula because of this focused premise and formula the craziness is structured well enough to follow along and to get invested in what's happening.

The second major strength is the animation. The surreal, freaky animation. You can just see from the screenshots I have here and you can tell this is a colourful show. The designs remind me a lot of The Marvellous Misadventures of Flapjack with the wide variety of character shapes and designs making all the character models stand out. Also, the show does do some still image animation and mixes it in beautifully mostly with the realistic flying tiger.

But I'm gonna say the faults of the show are rooted in those exact strengths. Much like Peter's previous show The Marvellous Misadventures of Flapjack the show might be too surreal for it's own good. Thankfully the more structured setup helps the surreal factor be more controlled but still it could turn people off. If you hate those stupid for stupid sake characters, fart jokes and just jokes based on randomness in general then I suggest you just skip this show because as of right now that's where this show is headed. But hey these are just episodes from the pilot. We'll all just have to wait until the series officially comes out in September to see what it truly becomes.

Nick Peril discovers a band he has not heard before, but learns that their latest release might not be the best introduction to a new band. (Note, this does not mark my return to regularly making videos. It is a once-in-a-while deal during my hiatus)

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Matt finally returns once more with a new game fresh on the market, and on sale for a short time. Rogue Legacy is a mixture of Rouge Like elements and MetroidVana style game play. Sit back and enjoy as Matt runs off to die... a lot. If popular this may be the start of the new run of Game Fail videos.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Matt and Mike tried to have a watch at this movie, but it didn't turn out. So to make up for it, Matt forces himself through this movie again! Enjoy the final chapter of Starman: Evil Brain from Outer Space

We finally end Scooby-Doo with the ultimate combination. Superheroes + Commentary on Remakes + Scooby-Doo = Scooby-Doo and The Mask of The Blue Falcon. Let's End Our Look at the animated movies for now on Scooby Dooby Doo Corner.
Guest Title Card Artist: Benny "Alagatery" Botorus

Scooby-Doo raises the Roof in Big Top Scooby Doo... okay that was just implementing a figure of speech because it sounded catchy, the movie itself is just bland and dull.
Guest Title Card Artist: Benny "Alagatery" Botorus

Scooby-Doo Goes Hollywood was the right way to do a Scooby-Doo musical, and now we have the DEAD wrong way to so a Scooby-Doo musical with Scooby-Doo Music of the Vampire.
Guest Title Card Artist: *STAR*

Scooby places a toe back into the old days of real monsters but puts a more comedic spin on it. Does it work? Whyboy is here to find out on Scooby Dooby Doo Corner.
Guest Title Card Artist: Jason Goodrich

Matt tries out and talks about the things that have been going on, with the first public beta opening of NeverWinter Online, and what Perfect World and Cryptic have been doing to keep things a float, and what they can do to really fix some nit picks in the game.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Raleigh has a weather machine for a hideout, and to get to him, I have video game obstacles to overcome in order to collect treasure keys. Yeah, because every villain has to put those in separate areas that are outfitted with guards and random flame vents.

Matt and Mike watch, and make fun of the the film that started super hero movies and TV shows in Japan. Yes we have the dubbed version of the movie that started Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, and Ultraman. Kick back and enjoy.

You know what's funny? Not this but SDDC watches it anyways to find the humour in this "satire" of The New Scooby-Doo Movies simply known as Night of the Living Doo.
Guest Title Card Artist: Benny "Alagatery" Botorus

We've Had Our Eyes On You For Quite Some Time, Mr. Anderson. All Media Used In This Video Are Done So Under Fair Use Laws For Commentary & Satirical Purposes. Special Thanks to VanTX89 for helping with this nightmare of a film, as well as Jesh Nyx, "Mad" Matt Winchell & The Incredible KMAN for providing their cameos.

In honor of starting a new Youtube channel and being the first new Vlog in a long time since starting up at League Sword Fish. Matt has restarted the Vlog series, shortening it's name, and started with a new #1.

Coming back from a break, GM Lukasz, and players Andrew, Bill, and Matt continue there 40K game. Surviving in a ship abandoned in the Void, and also living through the ships crash on a desert planet, and letting another group go on there own. We come back to find them getting brought back to safety.

It has finally arrived. SDDC begins its look at the Mook Animated Scooby-Doo movies. Do they hold up after all this time? Well let's begin with the darkest out of the four and find out. ENJOY
Guest Title Card Artist: Sydney "Soja" Nelson

The Library of Madness returns to the Final Fantasy series with a short look at the second book in the Wind of Pray-trilogy. Please keep in mind, that knowledge about the first book is required, so you may want to watch my review of that first, because I am not going to repeat myself.

My very first official let's play video! I take on one of my definitive PS2 titles and it feels so good to now finally be able to record gamplay footage. Please let me know what you think and I'll make more!

Scooby hangs out with three Ghostly bumblers along with a gorilla, a wacky sheriff and some hicks in the cluster of a movie, Scooby-Doo Meets The Boo-Brothers
Guest Title Card Artist: Milan "Derpederp1999" Prsa

Whyboy and Co. kickstart their look at the Scooby-Doo Franchise by looking at the first. Scooby Dooby Doo Corner Starts with a spotlighted look at the 1979 Scooby-Doo Goes Hollywood.
Guest Title Card Artist: Milan "Derpederp1999" Prsa

BIG NEWS Once Again at Cartoon Corner and Whyboy's here to Blab all about it as well as answer some comments. If you have a question, Comment or Dare for Whyboy or any of the Cartoon Corner Cast just leave it in the comment section below or send them to cartooncorner.whyboy@gmail.com Thank you to all my fans and friends. Because of you I am doing what I love to do and I hope to continue to entertain with Cartoon Corner and future projects. PS. As of this video Cartoon Corner has reached over 700 Subscribers

This week we try out a newer Action RPG. Now very cheep and easy to get a hold of. But also, despite this being only single player. Matt also brought in Erin of Mystic Tales fame ( http://romeomoon.wordpress.com/ ) So sit back and enjoy as we Try, Bastion!

EPISODE 30: It all Ends and Begins... with a F***ing Crazy band. Watch as Whyboy closes out the second chapter of Cartoon Corner by reviewing a movie that NO ONE would believe could exist... but sadly does. ENJOY

Well you may be wondering where is the second part of my Urusei Yatsura 2 review? ... Here are highlights from me playing the infamous PS2 horror game, Silent Hill 2 at Kitsune Kon 2013 to distract you.

It maybe a cliché to review this during Halloween but Whatever time to spotlight the Tim Burton written Henry Slick directed classic The Nightmare Before Christmas. ENJOY
Check out DJ Jaimetud's Metal Remix of This is Halloween HERE

Looking at something good for a change... also stick around till the end for a very special bonus review. All media used in this video is done so under fair-use laws for commentary purposes and is 100% opinion-based (so if you have a problem with my choices, understand these are MY choices, not yours)